Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, or create it... I wish. :)
The Magic Word Is Sorry, Not Please
(Chapter Four- What Am I Missing?)
Lily was first down to breakfast on the first morning back.
She was the first down most days, when it wasn't the weekend. On the weekends she slept for as long as possible.
Almost everyone else joined her pretty soon, so she wasn't alone for as long as she sometimes was.
It was weird, but they all ate together at the beginning of the term. However, Lily knew that it would only be a few weeks before they all started to drift apart, leaving just her. And Hugo, if she was lucky. So she was making the most of it.
The only Weasleys or Potters missing today were Roxanne and Albus. And Scorpius, since he sat with them all in the Hall. But they were always late. Roxy on the other hand? It was unlike her not to be down for breakfast.
As Lily thought this, ironically, Roxanne and Craig took their seats opposite her. Roxy, as always, looked completely beautiful. She'd perfectly inherited her Mother's beauty, and looked nothing like her twin Fred, who was the spitting image of his father (and therefore, his namesake). While Fred was pale, ginger and freckly, Roxanne was almost the colour of caramel, and had wild black afro-like hair. If you stood the two of them next to each other no one would know they were twins, but if you spoke to them somehow you would instantly know they were "The Second Weasley Twins". This morning Roxy had pulled her hair back into a messy bun, but still looked beautiful. Lily could never perfect a messy bun; she always looked like she'd just got out of bed.
Craig Cunningham was gorgeous too, and he and Roxy looked perfect together. He was pale, and thin yet muscular, with short brown hair which was the opposite of James and Albus' as it didn't seem to stick up everywhere. As he sat down he put his arm around Roxy, and she turned and smiled back at him.
"You look tired, Rose." Roxy told her, after finally looking away from Craig's eyes a minute or two later. Rose just mumbled in reply. Somehow, after this summer, she managed to look beautiful even when she was tired. And her hair was tied up in a messy ponytail as well, leaving only her fringe hanging down. Dominique's long blonde hair was tied in messy plaits. Lily couldn't help but wonder when everyone learnt the art of messy hair, and why she wasn't there.
"You do too James."
"Yeah, and so do you Roxy! I noticed you'd sent Louisa out on night duty; stayed up all night did we?" James was tired, and therefore grumpy, this morning.
In reply, Roxanne and Craig both just looked down embarrassedly.
"Ew." Fred said, dropping his toast onto his plate and pushing it away.
"Oh Fred, would you please grow up! You're so immature." Dom complained.
"It's not just me!" Fred protested.
Roxy and Dom just raised their eyebrows in response.
"Ok, fine! Remember that banging you two heard from upstairs that you thought was a ghost? That was me and Anna!" He smiled satisfactorily, and from her position from her table Lily could see that James and Fred shared a private high five under the table. Lily was glad, on Fred's behalf, that Anna had gone over to see her sister on the Ravenclaw table, and so didn't hear this outburst; otherwise Fred wouldn't have had a girlfriend for much longer. Anna was private like that, while Fred simply wasn't.
"EW!" Both girls reacted in exactly the same way as Fred had, dropping their food onto their plates.
"See." Fred smirked.
"See what?" Al asked, sitting down at the table next to Rose, Scorpius sitting on the other side. "Hey Rose." Once again Rose just grumbled in reply. "Wow James, you look rough."
"Shut it, Severus." James hissed back. "Scorpius, pass the butter."
Only Lily would've noticed it, but Rose looked up from her food and smiled at James after he said 'Scorpius', while Scorpius himself just looked stunned before doing what he was asked.
"So, what delights has everyone else got while I have a free this morning?" Fred asked, smiling.
"I've got a free too." James practically hissed.
"Oh, well, that'll be... fun?" Fred said, raising his eyebrows at Lily, making her laugh a little.
"We've got History of Magic with Hufflepuff, right Lils?" Hugo asked. He wasn't much of a morning person, like his sister, and he threw himself back into his food after speaking.
"Yeah." Lily nodded.
"You can't fail History of Magic in fourth year." Roxanne smiled.
"I did." Louis shrugged.
"Well you shouldn't fail it in fourth year."
"Why?" Lily asked.
"It's all about our parents. Literally 'and then Harry Potter found the stone, but he wouldn't have done it if Ron Weasley hadn't won the giant chess game or Hermione Granger hadn't worked out the safe potion' blah blah blah..." Al told her.
"Oh." Lily wasn't sure she'd like a year of listening to what her amazing parents had done.
"What about you Al, what have you got?"
"Arithmancy."
"Rose?"
"Ancient Runes."
"Ouch." Fred joked, earning glares from Rose. "Wow, you and James are so much fun today!" he said sarcastically.
Roxy stood up. "You know, we should be going to lessons now."
"Oh, so the head girl has had her say-!" Fred joked.
"Up. Now." Roxy said, threateningly.
"I have a free, I don't have to go!" Fred whined.
"You're meant to study in frees! Guys come on breakfast is over; it's lessons now."
All the Weasleys and Potters groaned, none more than Rose, as they stood up. Lily could have sworn she even heard Scorpius moan for a second, which was a surprise considering he was usually comparatively quiet. Meanwhile Craig just stood next to Roxy and looked at her adoringly.
Lily and Hugo shrugged at each other and stood up.
"Bye guys." Lily waved at her family, and not one of them waved back.
After running upstairs to pick up her books, she and Hugo walked to History. As they walked, Lily took her textbook out and started to flick through it. Pages and pages of it were covered with pictures of her parents and her family.
"Hugo, do you ever worry that we'll never live up to our parents?"
Hugo bit his lip. "Honestly? Always. And not just our parents. Aunts, Uncles, Brothers and Sisters..."
"Doesn't it scare you? That you'll just be this huge disappointment?"
"Yeah. But I'm hoping that as long as I don't disappoint myself then at least one person'll be happy with how I turn out."
"That's true."
"Lils, don't be scared to live, just 'cause you're a Potter."
Lily nodded, and took what he said to heart. She wasn't going to be scared anymore. Or at least, she was going to try.
...
"God, Rose was in a bad mood, right?"
Scorpius just shrugged back at Albus, reading his text book.
"I think she was up with James last night, not sure what they were talking about though."
Scorpius shrugged again.
Al then gave up on all ideas of conversations with him and leant back, eavesdropping on the group behind them; Dave Finnigan and his "boys" always said interesting things. He could just copy Scorpius' answers later anyway.
He heard his cousins' names from the boys behind them, but he was used to hearing gossip about them; especially about his brother.
"Dominique Weasley looks even hotter since the summer, who knew that was possible?" Al just rolled his eyes, too used to hearing gossip about his Veela cousin. Scorpius leaned back next to him, having finished the lesson's work already, only ten minutes into the lesson.
"Is she single?"
"Yeah, always single but never alone."
Scorpius raised his eyebrows at Al, and Al just shrugged back. The truth was that they were right; Dom was a bit weird with guys like that. She just didn't need to make an effort, and got bored far too easily. Some people who knew her less well would call her slag or a slut, but somehow it just wasn't what she was; it was hardly her fault if no one could keep her interested.
"Roxanne's still going out with Head Boy, right?"
"Yep, according to what I've heard."
"Damn, she's hot too."
"There's just something about the Weasley girls."
Al just rolled his eyes at Scorpius.
"Even Rose has got fitter over the summer."
Then Al saw Scorpius do something weird out of the corner of his eyes; he watched as his best friend pulled his wand out of his wand in his pocket. He ignored it, assuming that he was just bored of the lesson, and was going to try and set paper on fire under the table again.
"Oh yeah, I noticed that." One of Dave's friends replied. "But, would you really go there?"
"Nah, she's bloody annoying! 'Please sir, can we have extra work over the summer even though our OWLs are over?' Bloody hell..."
"Yeah, but still, you'd date her for the body, right?"
"Oh hell yeah." Dave replied. "Just mess around with her every now and again. Anyone who sleeps with a Weasley'd get written down in some history book somewhere!"
"So you reckon Rose hasn't done it before, then?"
"Judging by what she used to look like, no. But it won't stay like that for long if I'm anything to do with it."
Almost as if he somehow knew it would happen, Al watched as Scorpius flicked his wand slightly, without saying a word, pointing it behind him.
And then Al heard retching from behind him.
"Professor! Professor! Dave's just been sick. Eugh, he threw up slugs!"
Professor Wallwork simply looked up from her book, told Dave to go to the Hospital Wing and told his friends to clean up. She then looked around the classroom. "You should all still be working! If you've finished just turn to the next page."
Albus sat forward in his chair, but still stared at Scorpius, who had turned his page and gone back to his work as if nothing had happened.
"Scorpius, what the hell was that?" he whispered, aware that the classroom had gone comparatively quiet to what it had been before Dave had been cursed.
Scorpius looked back at him, his blonde fringe falling over his grey eyes. "I dunno, Rose is like my sister. It just... annoyed me I guess, hearing those guys talk about her like she was nothing." He shrugged, and went back to his work, as if his explanation was enough.
"Well in case you haven't noticed I actually am related to her, but you don't see me cursing every guy who talks like that about my cousins; I would've got every guy in school by now!" Al hissed back. "You're acting like James!"
"I wasn't, I was just trying to protect her!"
"Yeah, by cursing someone. Just like James does. Look, none of those guys will ever get within an inch of Rose. She's not stupid. Everyone talks like that Scorpius; she's just another girl to them."
Scorpius looked down. "I just don't want her to get hurt."
"Why would she? She's like Roxy: she'd only ever go for the most perfect guys in the world."
Scorpius nodded. He seemed almost upset by something Al had said, but Al didn't know what. Scorpius got like this sometimes; he would just go quiet for a while. Al had never been able to work out why.
"And even then the most perfect guy would have to survive James and Fred."
Scorpius laughed slightly, still moody about something.
"You don't have to worry; Rose'll probably never be stupid enough to get a jackass boyfriend, and if she does then us lot get to tear him to pieces." Al smiled, hoping to have cheered up his friend.
He wasn't sure if it would work. Scorpius was always possessive of Rose. Silly things like when she talked to a boy, he would ask Al if he thought there was "anything going on" between them. Or if she got partnered with a different guy to Scorpius in Herbology, he would always go all quiet and moody and stop fully paying attention to his work. That was why he only got an E in his Herbology OWL; Rose was partnered with Andy Phillips on the day of the practical exam.
Al just figured it was because Scorpius was an only child; so Rose was the nearest thing he had to a sister. After all, Al would probably be equally as weird if Lily was talking to a guy other than Hugo, not that it would ever happen.
"Yeah, I feel pretty sorry for any guy that ever falls for Rose." Al said finally before stealing Scorpius' parchment and copying his work.
He heard Scorpius laughing in agreement.
But he didn't see the worried look that had now crossed his face.
